Introduction

With our increasing mobility and addiction to information, smartphones — our powerful pocket computers that help us create, locate, communicate, and vegetate — have become an indispensable part of modern life. Our reliance on these wireless wonders will only increase as they become increasingly intelligent, filtering our data and predicting precisely when we’ll need it most, even performing actions on our behalf, eventually. This is why it is so important to pick the phone that best serves you — at least until the roles are reversed.

Updates

In the time since our last update, we've been busy evaluating new SoCs and CPU architectures. Our preview of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 820 SoC discussed the company's focus on heterogeneous computing and how this influenced the design of its first custom 64-bit CPU, Kryo. Our performance tests showed an emphasis on floating-point performance and sequential memory bandwidth. The 820's new Adreno 530 GPU is also a beast, setting new records in nearly every graphics test.

All of this testing and analysis (and CES) has kept us pretty busy lately, but we've been working on product reviews too. Our "long-term evaluation" of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is complete, culminating in a new flagship phone recommendation. Apple has vastly improved the iPhone's user experience by increasing RAM to 2GB and adding its new 3D Touch feature.

Before choosing a smartphone, of course, you have to pick an ecosystem to play in, whether it's Apple's, Google's or Microsoft's. This choice is highly personal and depends on what you do with your phone and what criteria are important to you. Our picks focus on hardware and user experience and leave this bigger choice up to you.

There are many factors to consider when choosing a smartphone: size, performance, features, software, price. Our comprehensive reviews give you the knowledge and data to make informed decisions, but if you do not have the time to read our smartphone novellas, or feel overwhelmed by all the charts and numbers, we also give you a shortcut. Every month, we publish our top picks in several different categories and tell you what makes these particular phones stand out.

While we could categorize phones based on ecosystem (Apple, Google, Microsoft) or screen size, we decided to differentiate based on price, with one exception. Our recommendations cover three different price tiers: Low-End (less than $200), Mid-Range ($200 - $500), and Flagship (more than $500). We also include a separate Phablet category for phones that make the best use of their larger screens.

About Our Recommendations

We only recommend smartphones we’ve actually tested.

We only review phones for sale in the North American market.

Our recommendations are based on data that we’ve collected and our own subjective experiences. We recognize that our readers are diverse, however, with different needs, preferences, and opinions, so our best picks may not be the best for you.

The list is based on full retail U.S. prices from online retailers. We do not list carrier subsidized prices, because it’s not fair to phones that are only offered unlocked at full price (Also, why should we have to sign a two-year contract just to buy a computer?).

The prices are for new phones only, not used or open-box.

Prices and availability change on a daily basis, but the embedded green links provide real-time pricing.

Best Low-End Smartphone

Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) 4G LTE

2015 Editor Recommended

Motorola’s second generation Moto E offers a polished smartphone experience for a low price. While there’s a less expensive 3G-only version, it’s worth paying a little extra for the 4G LTE capable model that also comes with a speedier Snapdragon 410 SoC—the same processor powering the latest Moto G. The 8GB of onboard storage is typical at this price point, but this can be expanded with an inexpensive microSD card. Its long-lasting battery will go a day or more between charges (depending on use), and Motorola even calibrates the 4.5-inch display—something we did not expect in this price range—giving it an edge in color accuracy. The Moto E also is bloatware free and offers a pure Android experience.

Like other phones in this category, camera performance is not great. Low-light image quality suffers the most, since there’s no LED flash. In good lighting, images from the 5 MP rear camera are suitable for sharing on social media, but you’ll still want a dedicated camera for important shots.

Best Mid-Range Smartphone

Asus ZenFone 2

2015 Editor Recommended

Asus, a company better known for its PC hardware, also makes a smartphone that tops its competitors in performance and price. The Intel Atom powered phone was the first to ship with 4GB of RAM and offers real-world performance and battery life similar to flagship devices that cost several hundred dollars more. Headphone audio quality also equals that of much more expensive devices, and while it only has a single rear-mounted external speaker, it’s one of the best implementations we’ve ever heard. The Dual Active SIM support means you can keep your personal phone number separate from your work number, with both numbers active at the same time. There’s also microSD support if the 64GB of internal storage proves insufficient. If price is your primary criteria, there’s also a version that comes with a slower Atom Z3560 SoC, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage for only $200.

Asus’ ZenUI Android skin offers customization options usually reserved for third-party launchers. It includes other useful features too, like a one-handed mode, but comes with a fair amount of bloatware. There’s also room for improvement when it comes to ergonomics: The top-mounted power button is hard to reach and the rear-mounted volume controls should be larger to make them easier to locate. The 1080p 5.5-inch IPS display is great to see at this price point, but its limited max brightness and high gamma curve make the screen appear a bit dark.

Best Flagship Smartphone

Apple iPhone 6s Plus

2015 Editor Recommended

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus look the same as last year’s models on the outside, but there’s a lot of new parts on the inside, including the fast and efficient A9 SoC. It’s the upgrade to 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM that makes the biggest impact, however. Whether opening apps, switching between multiple browser tabs, or multitasking, the new iPhones really fly. Together with the improved stability of iOS 9, the iPhones deliver a smooth, polished experience no other phone can match.

The new 12 MP iSight camera is no better than the older 8 MP version, which is disappointing. Samsung’s Galaxy family of phones still have the best cameras, but the iPhone still performs well and is possibly the best phone for recording video. The iPhone 6s Plus comes with optical image stabilization, a feature the smaller 6s lacks, giving it an advantage in low-light conditions.

The iPhone 6s Plus’ larger chassis holds not just a larger screen but also a larger battery, allowing it to outlast its smaller sibling. Being able to last an entire day under heavy use without recharging puts the 6s Plus ahead of the 6s in our book and helps it attain best pick status.

Alternate Flagship Pick

Samsung Galaxy S6

2015 Editor Recommended

Samsung’s latest Galaxy phones are surrounded by controversy and packed with technology and features. The most obvious change is the sleek new design, incorporating an aluminum frame and glass back. There’s also a new version, the S6 edge, whose screen has dual-curved edges. Elevating form over function, Samsung sacrificed the removable battery, microSD slot, and IP67 environmental protection—the exact features that made the Galaxy S5 unique.

If you can live without those features, however, the new Galaxy phones come packed with innovative hardware. The S6’s Exynos 7420 is the first SoC built on a 14nm FinFET process, it’s the first device to use the latest UFS 2.0 NAND storage, and it also uses the latest high-bandwidth LPDDR4 memory. All of this cutting edge tech makes the S6 phones the performance leaders for this generation.

There’s other improvements as well, including excellent QHD SAMOLED screens, a new touch-based fingerprint scanner, support for both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards, and a great camera. The new phones also include Samsung Pay, Samsung’s secure mobile payment solution that works with standard magnetic stripe and NFC enabled terminals. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are expensive, but no other phone can match their performance, features, and technology.

Best Phablet

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

2015 Editors' Choice

Samsung’s Galaxy Note series helped popularize large phones, so it’s no surprise to see one at the top of our list. The Galaxy Note 4 is a great smartphone—excellent QHD 5.7-inch SAMOLED display, good performance, quality camera, and an attractive design that incorporates the best qualities of both aluminum and plastic—but it’s an even better phablet, with features that maximize the large display’s utility. Multi Window allows you to view and work with more than one app at the same time, and there’s special one-handed modes that shrink the entire screen or just the keyboard and dial pad, which make the large phone easier to handle. The S Pen, a stylus combined with an active digitizer, is what gives the Note its name and further sets it apart from its peers. Sure, you can write and digitize notes with the included OCR capability, but there’s also the Air command menu, which provides quick shortcuts to common stylus tasks, and Air view, which allows you to see previews of content before opening it. The Note 4 also includes power-user features like a removable battery and expandable storage with microSD cards.

The Note 4 is not perfect—the external speaker is lame, there’s some UI stuttering, and the slow-motion video modes are weak—but no other large-screened phone comes close to the Note 4’s features and utility.

Seriously? The S6 and iphonie over the Xperia Z5? It's available in "north america" (canada for Z5, and USA for Z5 premium), it has less preinstalled garbage than both, it has better preinstalled software than both (music software is second only to Zune's stuff), and specs that beat both (premium is a freaking 4K 5.5" phone with better camera and great (if a bit hot) processor)

Taintedskittles

I have a Verizon Motorola Moto E (2nd gen). Wish I would of went with a phone with 2gbs ram instead. The 1gb ram just doesn't cut it anymore with android smartphones. Good for phone calls, basic apps, and web surfing(light gaming). Bad at multi-tasking, occasional browser crashes, and small storage 8gbs(32 SD card). But hey they're dirt cheap and reliable, got mine for $50,($30 now online).

Hoping one day smartphones will have modular ram for upgrading, like SD cards.

giovanni86

Samsung needs to take "notes.". We want a better version of the Note 4. Not the Note 5. Still rocking my Note 4, the horizon says i will be here for awhile.

I'll have to grab a Note4 soon, it appears to be the last of the Notes with a removable battery and SD card. My Note3 is starting to give weird color flashes (like when it overheated), so I will have to see how long it can still go.

There are many factors to consider when choosing a smartphone: size, performance, features, software, price.

Well, where is the most important one called Security? I'm one of those who always consider it as my numero uno factor.

mrmike16

Call me an Apple-hater, but the iPhone is NOT that good. Maybe it has good hardware, horrible iOS. It's simple, yeah, because it can't do anything!!! I also found its Settings very difficult to use. I have an LG G4, and I love it, and although I do wish it had a better battery, I can easily switch it when it is dying with the spare LG gave me for free. On an iPhone and Galaxy S6, you can't even take off the back.

And Nexus is nowhere to be found...

Also, as someone else mentioned, security is extremely important. iOS and Windows Mobile 10 both have great security, except from the companies that made the OS themselves (Apple and Microsoft). Android has fair security, but much more vulnerable than the other two. I would say BlackBerry wins in security, even with the Priv.

I am considering going back to a non-smartphone. The one I had, the Pantech Matrix, still works great. Battery lasts for 2 weeks at a time, no need to deal with annoying touch keyboards, no security risks except from the cell phone company spying on text messages, extreme durability without a case, no expensive data plans, and super simple OS. And fast! I'll just keep using my LG G4 as an MP3 player of sorts, but I'll usually use my Surface 3.